It is known to provide vehicle interiors with various trim assemblies to enhance the aesthetic appearance of the interior and to provide comfort, as well as convenience, to vehicle occupants. For example, automotive door constructions typically feature a metal door frame with a sheet metal outer panel or skin that defines the door's exterior and an inner sheet metal panel secured to the door frame. Various door components, including window regulator rails, audio speakers, latches, and the like, are fastened in openings defined in the inner sheet metal panel. Covering the inner door panel is a removable trim panel that provides an aesthetically pleasing facade viewed by occupants seated in the passenger compartment of the motor vehicle. Controls are provided on the trim panel for devices such as seats, door locks, mirrors and windows. The door latch may be connected by a cable to an inner release handle on the trim panel accessible to the vehicle occupant.
Automotive doors may be coupled with a vehicle body in a number of ways. For instance, the automotive door may be hingedly attached to the vehicle body so that the door may be rotated about the hinge between an open and closed position so as to allow passenger ingress and egress of the passenger compartment or to allow access to storage space within the vehicle. Automotive doors may also be configured as sliding doors where doors are opened by moving the door away from or outward of the vehicle body and then sliding the door along a track so as to allow passenger ingress and egress of the passenger compartment. In any event, when a door is in a closed position, a gap may exist between the door and vehicle body along a substantial portion of the door's periphery. These gaps are generally undesirable as the gaps provide pathways for the ingress of air, water or moisture, and road noise into the passenger compartment of the vehicle.
To reduce or eliminate the undesirable effects of air, water and noise within the passenger compartment, a resilient seal may be positioned along the periphery of the door so that when the door is closed, the seal contacts the vehicle body to fill the gaps between the door and the vehicle body and prevent the ingress of air, water and road noise. In many instances, the seal is coupled to the periphery of the door along the inner sheet metal panel as there is no part of the trim panel that forms a gap with the vehicle body when the door is in the closed position. In other instances, however, the trim panel covers the interior of the door such that a portion of the trim panel provides the portion of the door that forms a gap with the vehicle body. For example, the sliding door(s) on many minivans have a trim panel such that a lower portion of the trim panel forms a gap with the vehicle body, such as along the scuff plate on the vehicle body adjacent the sliding door. As before, the gaps between the trim panel and the vehicle body provide a pathway for air, water and road noise. Thus, a resilient seal is generally attached to the trim panel such that when the door is closed, the seal contacts the vehicle body to fill the gaps between the trim panel and the vehicle body and prevent the ingress of air, water and road noise.
Trim panels having a seal attached thereto have some drawbacks. One primary drawback is in the manufacturing of the trim panel. For instance, a trim panel may be formed by known methods, such as various molding processes. A resilient seal is generally formed through a process completely separate from that of making the trim panel. For example, the seal may be made through a known process, such as an extrusion process, at one location and then packaged and shipped to the manufacturer of the trim panel. The seal must then be attached to the trim panel in an additional processing step. For instance, the seal may be attached through an adhesion process, which involves an operator applying an adhesive onto the seal and/or trim panel and then manually locating the seal on the trim panel. Alternately, the trim panel may have a rail formed therein during the formation of the trim panel, such as through the molding process, and the seal configured such that an operator may slidingly engage the seal with the rail to secure the seal with the trim panel.
These above-described methods of constructing a trim panel having a seal not only require additional operating steps to form the trim panel, but also require additional parts which must appropriately supplied, tracked, shipped, inventoried and eventually assembled to make the complete product. Multiple manufacturing steps and multiple part assemblies lead to significant operating costs, administrative costs and labor costs, which increase the overall costs of production.
There is thus a need for an improved door trim panel having a seal and a method of making the same that reduces the number of manufacturing steps, number or parts, and the labor required for assembly thereof, thereby reducing overall manufacturing costs.